1. Field
Exemplary embodiments relate to capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer probes using a wire-bonding in which a capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer chip and a printed circuit board are connected by a wire.
2. Description of the Related Art
A capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) is an apparatus that transforms an electrical signal to an ultrasonic signal or vice versa.
In order to manufacture an ultrasonic probe, a CMUT is bonded to an electrical circuit. The bonding may be performed by using a wire bonding method or a flip chip bonding method. When the flip chip bonding method is used to connect a CMUT to a printed circuit board (PCB), a bonding process may be complicated, and a manufacturing cost may be relatively high.
When the wire bonding method is used, an area required for wire bonding may be increased, and accordingly, an active area of the CMUT may be decreased in an ultrasonic probe. As a result, measuring quality may be decreased.
A size of an ultrasonic probe may be determined according to an object to be measured. For example, in the case of an ultrasonic probe for measuring the heart, the ultrasonic probe must be located between the ribs of a human body, and thus, the size of a short measuring unit of the ultrasonic probe may be determined to be below approximately 20 mm. Accordingly, an area of a CMUT chip to be mounted in the ultrasonic probe is limited. A magnitude of ultrasonic sound pressure and a focal distance of an ultrasonic probe both depend on an active area of a CMUT chip, and thus, it is useful to maximize the active area of the CMUT chip.